Month: Feb 2019

We’ve just got back from seeing baby girl! We were torn about paying for a private scan because it is quite expensive. Jack in particular thought it was going to be a waste of money and we should just wait until the baby arrives to see her again now. But as our last NHS scan was at 20 weeks (apart from the surprise growth scan we had yesterday due to my “small” bump) I felt 20 weeks was a long time to wait without seeing my baby!

The huge benefit of a private scan as well was that the kids could come (they’re not allowed at the NHS ones). We felt it would be good bonding for them to see their baby sister in my tummy. I’m not sure they were as excited as I had hoped they would have been but still it was nice for them to be involved!

I have an anterior placenta and yesterday at the growth scan we were told her head is very low already so I wasn’t optimistic that we would get good pictures. But the sonographer was patient (and got me to cough and move about) and we got some decent ones! These are all at 28 +6 weeks.

Her face was all smushed against my tummy where she was pressed up close and she kept covering her face with her hand. She has super chubby cheeks and she’s just perfect. And she’s all girl which is a relief because those pink clothes won’t go to waste!

Chubby Cheeks!

Chewing her hand (she wouldn’t put that hand down! She’s going to be a thumb sucker!)

Hand on head- drama queen! Look at that smushed nose as well.

I think the poor darling is going to have my nose!

We also got this adorable heartbeat teddy which has a recording of her heartbeat in. There were loads to choose from and we got the kids to help pick- luckily we all easily agreed the husky was best!

The scan cost us £69 plus £20 for the teddy (there were bigger ones for £30). Whilst I don’t think we would have got medical peace of mind from them (there really wasn’t much focus on baby’s well being despite it being a well being scan), for bonding and pictures it was worth every penny. I actually wish we had upgraded to HD but I was convinced we wouldn’t get a good face shot!

Share this:

Like this:

I haven’t written on here in so long. What with Christmas and general family life it has been a constant whirlwind of activity and I haven’t had a minute to sit and think.

Today I am 28 weeks which means, whether you believe the third trimester starts at 27 or 28 weeks, I am in it! I can’t believe the 2nd trimester is already over. There are 84 days before the due date and excited as I am to meet baby, I am happy for those to go slowly!

Today’s post is a little different because it’s not going to be pregnancy related. Whilst i’m a first time biological mama, and babies are a whole new ball game for me, I am already a step-mum to three children. On Sundays, Jack takes Joe (7) to play rugby and I stay at home (in the warm and dry) with Jess (8) and Josh (11). I like to make the most of this bonding time so we always make sure to play a game or do some form of activity (preferably not involving a screen!).

Today I created a game for them which you may like to try with your own children! It was called code breaker and they both loved it. They worked well as a team and the best bit was it was super educational and they barely even realised! You would need to adapt the clues and the code depending on the age of your children but the base format would work for anyone!

The object of the game was to crack the code to open the box. Inside the box was a small selection of sweets so that their effort would be worth it! In order to crack the code they had to find and solve 8 clues, and then follow the code breaking instructions.

They were given the instructions of what they needed to crack the code which would involve using the answer to clues to do some maths!

First, I enlisted Jess’ help to draw a map of our house. I got her to think about where the big furniture was in each room and where the doors were so the map would be an accurate representation. When she had finished I marked the location of all the clues on the map with red crosses.

The clues were all things they would either have learnt in school, or would be able to find by looking up in books. No internet allowed! I wanted them to use the index and to think about what book might have the information they needed.

They worked together to hunt out the answers:

and then to do the maths!

All in all, the game occupied them for a good 45 minutes. 45 minutes in which they looked at books and completed maths problems- enjoying themselves the whole time! They were very proud of themselves when they entered the code onto the box and were able to open it to reveal the sweets inside! The game took me 15 minutes to set up and cost nothing (the sweets were already in the cupboard) so it was a real winner!

Definitely something to try on a rainy day with your own little ones!

Have you come up with any great games to entertain the kids on a rainy day inside?